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Category Archives: Himachal Pradesh

The following painted clay sculptures are at the Gumrang temple in Himachal Pradesh. Unlike those we have seen so far, only a few remain, they have not been renovated and are not in their original place. The photos are from the Western Himalaya Archive Vienna website https://whav.aussereurop.univie.ac.at

The following painted clay sculptures are at the Translator’s Temple in Ribba, Himachal Pradesh. Various dates have been given for the construction of the building itself (9th-11th century), which still has a large amount of wood carvings, many of them original. No dating has been given for the clays sculptures. The photos are from the Western Himalaya Archive Vienna website WHAV

The red gatekeeper clad in a tiger skin loin cloth and wielding a skull-tipped club is Hayagriva, who should have a horse’s head in his headdress. The execution of the face is somewhat crude compared with others seen in recent posts. He is adorned with a five-skull crown with rosettes, floral earrings, snakes and princely jewellery painted on his body.

Green Tara, with a leg pendent, her hands displaying supreme generosity and reassurance. The design of her crown and jewellery is very similar to those worn by some bodhisattvas at the Tabo monastery but her facial features are different and her lower garment is held in place with a contrasting cloth belt.

Possibly one of the offering goddesses in a mandala, this female entity is seated at royal ease and doesn’t seem to have a third eye on her forehead or any eyes incised in the palm of her hands.

Undated, Ribba, vajrabodhisattva, painted clay, photo by Christian Luczanits, 1994.This is probably Vajratejas, who normally holds a disc. He wears a similar crown, belt and dhoti as the previous statue, plus a shawl that covers his shoulders in the Chinese fashion.

An archaic form of Manjushri, seated with his legs locked and wielding a sword with the right hand while holding a book horizontally in the other. The yellow body corresponds to his Sthiracakra Bhavana aspect.

This more recent sculpture depicts Amitabha, with a red body, both hands in the meditation gesture to support a bowl, his prominent chignon topped with a lotus bud, his lower garment worn high up his waist, his upper garment covering both shoulders but leaving the right arm free.

The following sculptures at the cella of the main temple at the Tabo monastery complex, followed by one item from the Maitreya temple. The photos are published on the Western Himalaya Archive Vienna website at https://whav.aussereurop.univie.ac.at

The central statue in the sanctum is one of Amitabha/Amitayus, with a red body and both hands in the meditation gesture. Because he is seated on a lion throne, normally used for Vairocana or Shakyamuni, some scholars have argued that the original image probably depicted Shakyamuni. Could it be Shakyamuni represented as Amitabha? At any rate, he has a prominent chignon/ushnisha topped with a lotus bud proper to a buddha, mixed with long strands of plaited hair and princely jewellery, including armbands worn high up, seen on bodhisattvas.

On one side of him is Avalokiteshvara in his padmapani form (the lotus no longer in his left hand), expressing supreme generosity with his right hand. His hairstyle is very much the same but the jewellery is different.

On the other side, Vajrapani according to some, Mahasthamaprapta according to others. The latter, generally absent from Tibetan and Nepalese art, is usually depicted with Amitabha and Avalokiteshvara, which would confirm that the main image is the original one (see Dilwar Ram in Monastic art along the Western Himalayan trade routes – Gonpas and Lakhans, Himachal Pradesh University, chapter 4, on http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/121050/12/12_chapter%204.pdf).

We will note, however, that the way he holds his hands corresponds to Vajrapani.

Vajradharma, a form of Avalokiteshvara who plucks the petals a lotus with his right hand, and Vajratikshna, who brandishes a sword in his right hand, are two of the bodhisattvas who accompany Amitabha.

Also accompanying Amoghasiddhi are Vajrayaksha, who has a blue body and holds his fangs at waist level, he normally has a fierce expression, and Vajrasandhi, who normally has a golden or yellow body and may hold a vajra sceptre (although here he could have held a visvajra).

As with other similar sites, sometimes the gestures and/or the body colour of the characters in the mandala don’t correspond to the standard iconography.

The other two figures who accompany him are Vajraketu, with a blue body, described in some texts as holding a sword or a banner although the above has a vajra sceptre pointing to his heart, and Vajrahasa, with a white body, who usually laughs.

The following clay sculptures are at the main temple of the Tabo monastery complex, in Himachal Pradesh. Unless otherwise stated, the photos are published on the Western Himalaya Archive Vienna website on https://whav.aussereurop.univie.ac.at

The assembly hall (dukhang) houses a four-fold Vairocana placed on the floor and 32 deities seated on lotuses cleverly fastened to the wall. These deities are four gatekeepers, the other four wisdom buddhas, the sixteen vajra bodhisattvas and the eight goddesses who accompany them in the Vajradhatu mandala.

Vajrankusa is one of the two deities who guard the entrance to the assembly hall. He wears a five-skull crown, a tiger skin loin cloth, and would normally hold an elephant goad or hook (ankusa), which in this case may have been painted on the halo behind him.